Dinner and a Movie
by Glory1863
Summary: Shran gives Trip insights on Andorian ways while discussing a very popular movie over dinner.


Author's Note

Star Trek in all its incarnations, including all its characters, is owned by Paramount/Viacom, although I am sure that Shran believes he is under contract and not owned. Owned has such a nasty connotation, like something an Orion would say.

The movie being discussed has a long provenance. It originally belonged to David O. Selznick, then MGM; then Turner Broadcasting of Atlanta, Georgia; and finally, as far as I can tell, the Warner part of AOL Time-Warner. You didn't expect me to tell you what it is did you? That would spoil the fun! There are plenty of clues in the story, and it was the 4th most popular movie on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movies, so I'm sure you can figure it out.

By the way, I took the _Star Trek: Enterprise_ writer at his word – if there had been a 5th season, then Shran would have become an officer on _Enterprise._ In my world (and I believe others have done this as well), T'Pol has replaced Soval as Vulcan ambassador to Earth, thereby making room for Shran in a position commensurate with his rank and allowing her to continue whichever relationship she finds appropriate.

**Dinner and a Movie**

It had been movie night on the _Enterprise_ and the film had run for almost 4 hours. Afterward, Thy'lek Shran, the first officer, and Trip Tucker, the chief engineering officer, shared a meal in a corner of the mess hall, a midnight snack for Trip, but only a slightly late dinner for Shran whose body clock was still set to the Andorian 30-hour day. Chef considered their entrée to be an interesting example of galactic fusion cuisine. It had started out as a thick, spicy, Andorian meat stew that Shran had somehow induced Trip to sample. Trip had to admit that once you got used to the meat being blue, it really tasted pretty good. After awhile, however, he had suggested adding a few condiments: Cheese, sour cream, a spicy salsa, spicy guacamole and stone-ground blue corn tortilla chips. Shran liked the cheese and sour cream, but then Andorians crave protein the way humans crave sweets and to better purpose as it helps maintain their distinctive blue coloration. He had no problem with the blue corn chips either. He could take or leave the salsa, but the guacamole had been a really tough sell at first, partly because of its color and partly because of its texture, but once he got used to it being green and Chef smoothed out the texture, he'd come to enjoy it very much. The dish quickly caught on with the rest of the crew and was affectionately called "Andorian nachos."

As Trip dug in to his side of the platter, he asked Shran, "So what did ya think of the movie? It was great, right?"

"It had points of interest, and the Max Steiner score was beautiful," Shran answered as he put a generous portion of sour cream on his plate. When he saw the disappointed look on Trip's face he continued, "I admit that their escape from the invading army which took them close to boxcars of exploding ammunition, through the burning warehouse district and in particular past that one immense building that was engulfed in flame and nearly collapsed on them, was especially thrilling. I believe that even Mr. Reed was suitably impressed." He was gratified to see Trip's expression perk up. "I also found the shot where all one could see along the railroad track all the way to the vanishing point were casualties waiting to be evacuated to be very moving. I wonder how that shot was done? This movie came out well before the advent of computer-generated graphics, did it not?"

"It sure did; 1939 (Earth Standard) to be exact." Trip paused to replenish the salsa on his plate. "Thy'lek, you ever hear the phrase 'and a cast of thousands'?" Shran, who had just put a heavily laden tortilla chip in his mouth, merely nodded. "Well, there were about 1,600 bodies in that scene, but only about 800 real people. The rest were mannequins." Somehow it did not surprise Shran that Trip knew this. He was an engineer, after all, and he clearly loved this movie, although it wasn't from the horror genre that he usually favored. Shran suspected that Trip liked it because it had something to do with his heritage, although just what, he wasn't sure.

"OK, so what did ya think of the heroine? I'm bettin' ya really liked her!" Trip licked some melted cheese off his fingers as he waited for Shran's answer.

Shran paused for a moment before answering. He thought the woman was attractive, but humans had many definitions of beauty because they came in many color combinations of skin and hair unlike the people of Andoria who all had silver-white hair and antennae and were either blue skinned, as he was, or white skinned like his Aenar life's mate Jhamel. He finally decided to take his chances and said, "She was beautiful, elegant, gracious, brave and honorable. In fact, she reminded me of Jhamel." He saw the perplexed look on Trip's face. "She would not be considered beautiful?" Shran asked uncertainly. It didn't occur to him that he could have made any other mistake.

"Oh, she was beautiful, but you're talkin' 'bout Melanie. That's not who I meant," Trip explained.

"Melanie is not the heroine?" Now it was Shran's turn to be perplexed.

"Not really. Why'd ya think she was?" Trip was genuinely curious.

"She is respectful of family, even of her sister-in-law who often behaves in a manner unworthy of respect, indeed scandalously so. She is as scrupulously faithful to her marriage vows and as supportive of her life's mate as a bonded Andorian woman would be, yet humans do not bond in the same way we do and cheating is not uncommon for them. She gives birth under horrible circumstances and then must flee for her life in a highly unreliable conveyance and with a male of dubious morality, yet she does not complain, nor does she ever complain of her reduced circumstances. She acknowledges her family's debt to the woman of the pleasure syndicate and is willing to treat her graciously in public as part of that acknowledgement even though people of her own caste would shun her for doing so . . ."

"OK, Thy'lek, I get your point!" Trip gave up trying to put some salsa on a corn chip and raised his hand in surrender. With a broad grin, he continued, "But considering how Talas asked ya out on your first date, I thought for sure you'd like Scarlett. They were both bold, feisty, smart and gorgeous women." Trip's grin immediately faded as he saw Shran carefully put down his silverware and noted that the Andorian's usually bright brown eyes had become opaque and unreadable. "Oh, hell! I'm sorry, Thy'lek. That was outta line. I guess I just got carried away. I do apologize. I didn't mean anything by it."

Before replying, Shran took a sip of his Andorian fruit drink. It looked like pink lemonade but tasted like a combination of apple and peach juices. Trip could never remember the name of it. "I do not object to the mention of Talas, Commander, or even to the evocation of that particular memory, although it is - bittersweet. What I would find objectionable – even dishonorable – is for a friend who knew both of us and knew of our relationship to suddenly behave as if she, and therefore the relationship, had never existed. I believe you understand me, Commander?" It was a statement as much as a question.

"I reckon I do," Trip said quietly as he thought fleetingly of his sister Lizzie, who had been killed in the Xindi attack on Earth, and of his little daughter Elizabeth, who had been named for his sister, but like her, was now also dead. It was strange how his friendship with Shran had come from their mutual loss of siblings. Shran's older brother, also an Imperial Guardsman, had been killed in one of Andoria's innumerable skirmishes with Vulcan. Shran understood the grief, had always encouraged Trip to speak of his departed family members and had always listened sympathetically when he did.

Shran watched Trip take a long swallow of his beverage of choice. It went by many names. It was a soda, pop or its actual trade name, although Shran noted that Trip seemed to apply the trade name to any similar beverage. Trip toyed with the now empty red and white can with the product's name spelled out in the elegant hand of a bygone age that vaguely reminded Shran of the flowing Andorian script on his officer's commission. Shran didn't want an otherwise pleasant evening to end on such a melancholy note, so he said, with a wry smile, "Then Scarlett is the heroine, I presume?" He saw Trip nod. "I can understand why you compared her to Talas, given what you know of her, and I might even agree with you, but only on the most superficial, the most cosmetic level." The last was an acknowledgement that he had found the Earth woman attractive. He continued more seriously, "When Scarlett says, 'As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again,' her determination in the face of adversity is soul stirring and very Andorian. Talas was like that. Like Scarlett, Talas would have had no problem shooting an intruder in her home."

Trip laughed. "I suspect Talas wouldn't have had a problem shootin' a no-good varmint anywhere. I can think of a MACO who wouldn't doubt that for a minute; in fact, he oughta be real glad it didn't come to that!"

"And more than one Tellarite." Shran joined in the laughter, though Trip noticed a shadow flit through his eyes.

"Where I will not tolerate the comparison of Talas to Scarlett, Commander, is in the matter of their respective mating habits." Shran noted Trip's deep blush. He really was a "pinkskin" at this point. "Whatever Andorian attributes Scarlett may have, she puts them to extremely poor use by continually seeking to disrupt the courtship and bonding of others. This is highly dishonorable behavior. You might find Talas' 'overture' to me to be outrageous, but she would never have made it had I been courting or bonded to another. In addition, had Talas and I become life mates, which we might well have, had she survived, then that is exactly what we would have been. She would not have bonded with me only to pine for someone else. Such behavior would have been reprehensible and dishonorable in the extreme."

Shran pushed his tray away. He was clearly finished with his dinner. "I do not understand Scarlett's fascination with Ashley. Granted, he was wealthy, an apparently honorable soldier, and he had the fortitude to survive being a prisoner of war, but by the end of the movie he seemed, without the backing of his family's wealth, personally grossly ineffectual as a civilian."

"Which is about the time Scarlett lost interest, if you'll remember," Trip observed blandly. "No, I take that back. She lost interest once he actually became available. Helluva time to notice he was kinda lackin' and that she'd be better off to dance with the one who brought her. Like they say, nothin' like being a day late and a credit short. Thy'lek, in general now, are Andorians ever like that? Seems pretty common on Earth."

It took Shran a moment to understand exactly what Trip meant by "like that" since his peculiar expressions, along with his strange accent, were sometimes difficult to comprehend. Finally, he said, "Andoria, although beautiful, can be a harsh and unforgiving place. It pays to think carefully about what you want because it can often be difficult to obtain. If you are fortunate enough to obtain it, then you are likely to value it. You do not forget the effort it cost. There is no sense wasting energy on what can never be. Andorians have had to learn to work collectively in order to survive. Selfishness like Scarlett's, and that's what it was, can be fatal if it leads to being outcast."

Trip nodded. "I see," he said softly. He was surprised by how serious the discussion had become. "Ya know, I'm almost afraid to ask what you thought of Rhett."

"He seemed to be a rogue with a deeply buried sense of honor that only surfaced at the most opportune times. I have noticed that this is a popular character type in Earth films."

Trip stared intently at Shran and then, with as innocent an expression on his face as he could manage, he lazily drawled, "Ya tellin' me that's only an Earth trait, huh?" He ventured a sly smile.

Shran's eyes narrowed as he considered the question. "I am sure that I have no idea what you are implying, Commander," he said with all the wounded dignity he could muster. Then, to change the subject and to cover his embarrassment, he stated with some heat, "I also do not understand why it took Rhett four hours to tell Scarlett that frankly, he didn't give a damn!"

Trip chuckled as he collected the remnants of their meal to take to the recycler. "You've given me a lot to think about, Thy'lek." He stretched and stifled a yawn as he stood. "But I'll think about it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day."

Afterword

OK, you stuck with it, so just in case you still don't know or aren't sure, the movie they are discussing is _Gone With the Wind_.


End file.
